The Broken Girl
by Katalin Kat Royal
Summary: After a tragedy, Kali is forced to attend a new school in another country. Her life seemed to be crashing down until she met a certain boy. But will things take a better turn or continue to spiral the opposite direction?
1. Prologue

The smell of smoke was everywhere. The blaring of a smoke detector was all that could be heard. A young girl's eyes flew open to see smoke coming through the cracks of her closed bedroom door. Her mind hadn't even registered the situation before she was moving to open the bedroom window. It wasn't until the cool winter air of Tennessee that she registered what was happening. She balanced herself on the window ledge while she calculated how bad her injuries could be if she jumped to a nearby tree. It would be a painful fall if she didn't make, but she would still be alive. If she stayed inside her room, she'd probably die from smoke inhalation. The last thing on her mind was using magic to put out the fire, which could have been an option if she had know a spell to put out the fire.

Living was the only choice. Gathering all her courage, the girl jumped off the ledge toward the tree. It felt as though time had slowed around her until she reached the tree and everything came rushing back. The branch, not strong enough to hold her 115 pounds, that she landed on snapped sending her to the cold, hard ground below to land directly on her back. Pain shot up her body until her head came crashing down from the fall and everything faded away into black.

In what felt like a short period of time, there was pain everywhere. Her whole entire body was hurting. Her eyes opened to the bright lights of a hospital room. The sound of someone pacing was all she could hear. "She should have been awake by now… Why isn't she awake yet…" Someone was muttering probably to themselves inside the room. She turned her head slightly, but stopped due to the pain. A late 30s or so, woman was now standing by the bed with a look of worry.

"Oh Kali, you have everyone worried." The woman said, which confused Kali as she had moved to England years ago and hasn't contacted the family since.

In a hoarse voice, she asked the typical questions of someone who didn't remember a tragic incident to find out what had happened and where she was. "Where are my parents?" was the last question she needed to know at the moment. Her aunt looked as though she was trying to not cry and couldn't find the words to speak. From the doorway, someone with a long white hair and a matching beard spoke up. "They didn't suffer…" Before he could finish his sentence, the teenager broke into tears because she knew what that meant. Her parents were dead.

The person was none other than Hogwart's headmaster Albus Dumbledore. As her aunt now had custody of her, Kali would have to move to England. She had been attending Keaton Academy since the age of eleven after getting an acceptance letter similar to the ones Hogwarts students receive. Keaton Academy was an all girl school that taught young witches magic and about the wizarding world. She was home due to the winter break that they had in between semesters. Now, she would be attending Hogwarts as her aunt was a professor there and would be in Slytherin House as it was the equivalent to the house that she had been sorted into at Keaton. The only difference was the name, colors, students, etc. The beliefs and qualities were similar, but she would have no friends or anyone that she knew at the school in another country. Basically for Kali, it was an unwanted fresh start.


	2. Chapter 1: The Boy

A few hours before the students were supposed to arrive at Hogwarts, Kali was already there with her aunt. This gave her time to meet some of the professors and the few students who stayed behind; including her Head of House Severus Snape. She couldn't lie that he was intimidating to her. She also learned that there wasn't as many activities as there were at Keaton, but one activity that wasn't at her old school was Quidditch that seemed to be a big deal here. What she overheard about it confused her more as things like the Snitch, Quaffle, Beater, Keeper just confused her.

As it got closer to time for the other students to arrive, Kali began to get filled with nervousness and anxiety. She made sure to look presentable as she wanted to make a good impression. She headed to the Great Hall, where the other students would be when they arrived, early so that she could already have a seat. The walk seemed like it took forever due to the fact that she wasn't one hundred percent sure where she was going. She knew that she needed to get out of the dungeon where the Slytherin common room was. Every corridor, stairwell, and turn that she took look similar to the last in Kali's mind.

When she finally found her way to the Great Hall, some of the professors were there and conversing with each other. She found the Slytherin table and took a seat. It wasn't too long of a wait before other students began to file into the room. Occasionally, Kali would glance around the room at other Slytherin students. She noted her aunt talking to a male professor with black hair who she assumed to be Professor Snape, the potions master who wanted to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts but hasn't had the chance. From where she sat, he look intimidating and her aunt was talking about her. She knew this because they would both glance in her direction occasionally during the conversation.

She didn't snap out of her thoughts until she saw someone sitting next to her on her right side. With her ribs still being extremely sore, she wasn't too thrilled that someone was sitting on that side. If the person bumped her, no matter how lightly, it would hurt. The person was a tall, relatively muscular male around her age. He was talking to a couple of other guys, one dark haired and one lighter colored hair, about what she assumed was Quidditch. Kali was very careful not to make eye contact with any of them and only use short side glances as she didn't want them to get suspicious as she was eavesdropping on their conversation.

As the topic came to a close, the guys dropped their voices to a whisper so law that Kali could not understand what they were saying. She glanced over to see that two of the boys were looking in her direction. The one sitting next to her show no interest whatsoever and she was more interested in him than the other two.

"Take a picture," She told the two boys. "It'll last longer."

"Believe me, I would if I could." One of the boys replied with an arrogant smirk. "Names Adrian Pucey."

The boys seemed very interested in her, but wasn't taking the hint that she wasn't interested in them. It took the uninterested guy to speak up for them to take a hint. His tone caught her off guard as it was very harsh as if it annoyed him that his friends weren't paying attention to him. It reminded Kali of a teenage girl who spotlight was stolen by another girl and a catfight broke out.

"Graham, Adrian, leave her alone. She doesn't fancy either of you." The comment was not taken very lightly.

"What's up with you, Flint?" Montague asked, very pissed off.

Adrian joined in one this without missing a beat. "Yeah, you never tell us to leave a girl alone. Not even when you know that we are going to be embarrassed afterwards." Adrian began to get an idea about what was going on with his friend, but he shut up as soon as he was given a dangerous glare.

Suddenly, Dumbledore's voice rang out across the room defusing the tense situation. He began his welcome back speech to the students. Kali couldn't focus on a single word because her mind was devoted to someone else. Someone who she wanted attention from for some reason, but wasn't getting it. Even when she tried to forget about him and focus on what was happening around her, he was still there.

After what felt like an eternity before the students were allowed to leave the Great Hall. Many students were talking with their friends until they were permitted to leave. Kali didn't have anyone to talk to as she didn't really have any friends yet. The only people that she had really met was Adrian, Graham, and Flint, who would occasionally speak to the other two about plans for the upcoming Quidditch match. He never shot a glance towards her or spoke to her.

Kali knew her aunt would ask her questions about how her first meal with her house went, but she got out of there before her aunt got the chance. She knew that she'd have to face her eventually, but didn't want that day to be at that moment. Because she didn't know how to answer the questions as she had never felt this way in her life. She didn't like it as she felt weak.

Before her aunt had the chance to question her, Kali got herself out of there. She knew her aunt would want to know if everything was okay, but truthfully, she had no idea what was wrong with her. She had never felt this way in her life and didn't like the feeling either as it made her feel weak.

There were many empty rooms that Kali had to pass on her way back to the Slytherin dormitories. She paid very little attention to the rooms because majority of people were still in the Great Hall. She ran her fingers through her red velvet brown waves as she walked. Playing with her hair was a habit that she tended to do when she was stressed. Majority of the time, the stressor was school related as she took her grades extremely seriously and was a perfectionist.

She could hear footsteps that weren't too far from her, but she didn't think much about it as she didn't care who it was as long as it wasn't her aunt. She could avoid everyone else or at least try to. She did not want to answer any questions that her aunt would ask her. Kali's mind was in a million different places. When the footsteps silenced, she could feel someone's eyes on her from behind. She turned around to see who it was just to come face to face with the one guy that basically lived in her mind now. His grey eyes were dark with what was either anger or annoyance. Before she could even comprehend what was happening, his hands had a tight grip on her forearms as he backed her against the cold, hard wall.

"What sort of magic are you using on me?" Marcus demanded.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Kali answered honestly which caused his grip to tighten in anger. There would definitely be bruises on her arms later.

"Don't lie to me." He growled.

"I'm not lying." She struggled to get out of his painful grip, but he was too strong.

Before he could say or doing anything, a tall, thin, red headed boy with freckles came down the corridor. He was wearing the Gryffindor colors of red and gold. "What is going on here?" He demanded, but sounded like he was trying way too hard to come across as sophisticated.

"It's none of your concern, Weasley." Flint growled at the boy. His eyes never leaving Kali's.

"Let her go, Flint. You're hurting her." The boy replied, but Marcus didn't seem to care about what the Gryffindor had to say as his grip never loosened. Though it didn't hurt as bad as when Kali fell from the tree. "If you don't let her go, I will get Professor Snape." Percy warned.

After a few moments, Marcus released her before storming off, still very aggravated. Kali rubbed her aching arms and checked to see how bad the bruising would be. She looked back up to see that Percy Weasley was still standing there. He could have left as she was okay. It was the first time that she really got a good look at him as she hadn't been able to take her eyes off of Marcus. His eyes were nearly as mesmerizing to her. They were stone cold as though there was no life in them.

"I'm fine." She told him, hoping that he would leave her alone.

Percy's eyes narrowed in disbelief. "Are you sure? I can escort you to the Medical Wing?" He offered.

"Yes, it's just bruised. Nothing major." Kali assured him.

He finally seemed to believe that she was fine. He walked away, leaving her standing in the corridor alone. All she could hear was her heart pounding in her ears from her encounter with Flint. Him being that close, even if he was threatening her, made her heart skip a beat. She hurried back to her dorm, somewhat hoping to run into him again. But he was nowhere to be found.


	3. Chapter 2: The Game

It has been almost a week since Kali began school at Hogwarts and haven't seen her Aunt at all. Mostly because she had been avoiding her since the Welcome Back Feast, but it couldn't last forever. She needed to figure out her feelings before that moment or before running into Marcus Flint again. She was forced to keep a journal after the fire to document everything that she has felt since being released from the hospital. Her aunt believed that it might help her deal with her feelings about losing her parents and basically old life.

Over the past week, she had learned that her class schedule was not the most interesting that she could have gotten as most of them were quite boring. The only good thing was majority of her classes were with Marcus Flint and his buddies. She had overheard in Defense Against the Dark Arts that he was the captain of her house's quidditch team. This led to her wanting to learn what she could about the sport. No one could believe that she had never heard of it before coming to Hogwarts. Not too many students paid attention to Professor Quirrell as he lectured them until he gave a homework assignment, which was always a joy. It was a two page essay on the lecture, but information on it was also in the textbook.

When the school day ended, Kali had plans to watch the Slytherin versus Ravenclaw quidditch match with some girls from her house that she had been hanging out with. It really wasn't too difficult to find a group of friends when she actually tried to. She basically did everything with her group of friends, which was similar to how things worked at Keaton. Groups tended to stick together. They were heading back to the common room to get ready for the match when she was stopped by a pair of red-headed twins that looked extremely similar to the Percy.

"Oi, Kali is it?" One of them asked.

"Yes…" Kali wondered what two Gryffindors wanted as it was clear that houses tended to stick together and Gryffindors and Slytherins were not friends.

"We were wondering if you would help us with a prank?" George asked her.

Kali didn't feel comfortable with pranks as at Keaton, they weren't tolerated and grounds for expulsion. "I'd rather not…"

She continued back to her dorm to get ready because she needed to look on point. She braided her hair and wrapped it into a bun. A wrapped bun was her favorite updo especially when she was taking dance classes at Keaton. She didn't wear makeup as her skin was normally unblemished. After getting ready, she went to meet her friends. They were going to head over to the game together, which wasn't too far of a walk. She wanted to head early so that she might see Flint, but she doubted as Quidditch was something that he took very seriously. Nothing would come between him and winning.

The Quidditch pitch reminded Kali of a mix between a football field and baseball field. Instead of goal posts, there was three rings set up on both ends of the pitch. Also, there were three balls in play instead of just one. The game, itself, was interesting considering Kali had never seen anything like it, but she was more interested in watching Flint than any of the other players. She still didn't really understand what was happening in front of her, but she clapped and cheered when the other Slytherins did to prevent her from looking absolutely clueless. Though there was one thing that was noticeable, Slytherin's foul play as they were downright ruthless. But it didn't bother Kali much as it made the game more interesting in her eyes.

After what felt like forever of the teams flying around, Slytherin finally won the match. Everyone from Slytherin House was celebrating including the teams. Kali locked eyes with Flint for a brief second before his team pulled his attention away. She would have rathered that he came over there to celebrate with her or held her gaze longer, but she knew that wasn't something to hope for. He seemed to hate her and didn't want anything to do with her. Yet, she was still drawn to him.

After the match, everyone headed back to the common room to hang out and celebrate. Kali decided to hang out with everyone else as there was a chance that she would see Marcus again. She hung towards the back of the common room because she could keep an eye out for him. He wouldn't be able to sneak up on her again. When the team entered, everyone errupted into cheers. The team was busy hanging out with their friends and Kali just kept to herself. She could have hung out with her friends, but she really just wanted to talk to Flint. The only problem was that he was never alone and she didn't want rumors to spread with she tried to talk to him.

Hours had past and Kali was no closer to talking to Marcus Flint. She waited as long as she could before deciding that maybe it was best if she just headed up to her dorm to get ready for bed. She didn't even look back as she left the common room. If she had looked back, she would have seen that Marcus Flint had watched her leave. She couldn't lie that she did feel hurt that he didn't talk to her, but what could she expect as she believed that he hated her for reasons unknown. She disappointedly climbed into bed and tried to keep herself from crying herself to sleep. 


	4. Chapter 3: Act Like A Lady

Blood purity was a common concept that ran through many families in the wizarding world. Kali's family was no different as her parents stressed the importance of the topic on her for as long as she could remember. It was important to keep her family's name and bloodline pure as it has been for centuries. Many other families believed in the same belief system.

Another idea that was important in Kali's family was being a proper lady. This tradition was passed down from mother to daughter for many generations. For a woman to act any other way, especially in public, would be a disgrace to her name. To her family, a proper lady involved more than just attitude, but a manner of carrying oneselves. It was how they spoke, how they dressed. Basically, a way of life for generations of her family. A proper lady carried herself in a manner that made her look elegant, above most other people, but did not look selfish or like an airhead.

Kali had always strived to be what she was expected to be so that she could live up to her family's name, even if they weren't there to tell her how proud they were of her and who she has become. Her clothes were always perfect as her parents spoiled her being the only child, niece, and grandchild in her family. She made sure that her hair was styled in ways that complimented her outfit and framed her face. She wore light makeup to hide any imperfections on her face, unless there was some big occasion in which she would wear dark and mature shades. She tried to look her best everyday especially if there was a chance that she would run into Marcus. She wanted to look pretty and natural. The last thing that she wanted him to think based off of her appearance is that she is fake.

The updated appearance choices that she had been choosing made her aunt even more suspicious that something was going on. Her aunt had an idea of what was going on, but did not know all the details and seeing as Kali had been purposely avoiding her, matters had to be taken a bit further to find out some answers. In the back of her mind, she had an inkling suspicion that Marcus Flint was the problem, but she hoped that was not the case. In her aunt's eyes, he was not good enough for Kali as she had known him since his first year at Hogwarts and never cared much for him as the only thing that he took seriously was quidditch. His academic performance proved her point. She always believed that the odds of her niece falling for someone like him was somewhere in the ballpark of one and a billion. Her plan was to pull Kali out of class so that her niece wouldn't be able to avoid her anymore.

It was obvious by the look on her eyes that Kali was not happy to be pulled out of class. She looked rather annoyed by the matter with a hint of anger. She always hated to be pulled out of class because she would miss information that could be important in the future.

"Do you care to explain?" Her aunt asked, knowing that she would know exactly what was being asked about.

"Explain what?" Kali decided to play dumb.

"Don't play coy with me, Kali." She was warned.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Kali sassed.

"Oh? I think you do. Stay away from Marcus Flint or you will be grounded." Her aunt threatened before turning to walk away.

"You can't tell me what to do." Kali spat. "You're not my mother."

"You're right. I'm not your mother, but I am your legal guardian." She reminded the teen. "My job is to do what is best for you and what you're parents would have wanted. Marcus Flint puts both of those in danger."

Kali was furious about the treatment she was receiving from her aunt. "You don't know what's good for me! You were never around because you were always here. You never came over for Christmas or any breaks that I know you had." Tears streamed down her face. "I wish mom was here and not you!" She cried before running off. Mentally, she could hear her mother reprimanding her for not acting like a lady.


	5. Chapter 4: The Tower

Kali had just ran away from her aunt after her questioning lead to an argument. She was upset and furious at the same time. With her emotions getting the better of her, she didn't know where she was going to. She didn't care as she knew she just needed to keep going towards the highest point of the castle, the Astronomy Tower. From there, she could jump if she decided to die instead of continuing on with her now miserable life and disappoint her parents more than she believed that she already had.

She stood on the edge of the tower, looking at the ground below. Most students and professors were in class so the tower and surrounding area was mostly empty. Astronomy classes were typically held after dark. The weather was cold and partially cloudy. She typically hated heights since falling out of the tree, but Kali believed it to be her best option at that point. It would be more difficult for someone to stop her. As she decided that this was what she wanted to do and went to step forward off the tower, a firm arm went around her waist to pull her back away from the ledge. She struggled to get free to no avail causing her to fail weak compared to her captor. She was basically no more than a helpless doll at that moment as she was at the person's mercy.

"Let me go!" She wanted to demand in a firm voice, but the crying and screaming from earlier had affect her voice causing it to sound like a whisper. She still had tears in her eyes that threatened to pour more than they already had before that point.

The person gently turned her to face him. "Easy, it's just me…" The voice belonged to the last person she expected to see, Marcus Flint. With that said, she didn't know why he was there or why he was preventing her from ending her pain. With the way that he had been treating her, it should have made him more than happy if she jumped off the tower to her death. But it did feel better to have someone who wasn't her aunt there trying to calm her down and prevent her from doing something horrible to herself. On the other hand, it caused a rebellious feeling within her as she was alone with the boy that her aunt wanted her to stay away from.

"Why are you here?" She asked in a small voice.

Flint sighed, regret in his grey eyes. "I overheard the argument and saw you run off…" He kept his answer short as though he was afraid to admit too much. His eyes were shifting as though he was suddenly nervous that she might get free from his grip if he let his guard down. He could see that she had the same nervous, but for a different reason. Kali was afraid that her aunt had seen him when he was eavesdropping on them and now she was in for a chastising to last a century. She'd never see the light of day again compared to the argument that she just had. "Don't worry. She didn't see me." He tried to reassure her.

"Why did you follow me?" Kali asked, her voice small.

He considered his words carefully. "I thought you might do something that you would regret and I was right…" He gently moved a strand of hair away from her face. "Kali, you can't kill yourself. I won't let you kill yourself."

Kali knew that he wasn't going to let her, but she still didn't understand why he seemed to suddenly care so much. "Why not? It would make everyone's lives easier!" She exclaimed.

"Only you believe that." Marcus reassured her. "And it wouldn't make my life easier. It would make mine worse."

"It would make your life worse!" Kali couldn't believe what she was hearing. The one person, that wouldn't even give her the time of day, is the same person that is preventing her death. "You've been cold towards me since day one!"

"Kali, I love you." Marcus replied. "Since day one when I first saw you, I knew that you were different than the other girls at this school."

Those words hit her like a ton of bricks causing her to collapse into his arms and cry. He held close in a tight, protective embrace as if he was afraid she still jump if he let go of her. It felt different to have someone comforting her, holding her. She liked the feeling of being in his arms and didn't want to move.

Once she calm down some, Marcus finally spoke up. He had remained quiet until that point because he didn't know what to say to her. She had been through a lot and he didn't want to upset her further. "Do you want to talk about it?" His voice was careful and gentle at the same time. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Kali looked up at him. "Not here…" She said before following him back to the Slytherin Common room.

The common room was empty as everyone was in classes. They sat on one of the couches facing each other. The silence was so uncomforting that a pin drop could be heard perfectly. Kali wouldn't normally mind the silence, but it was almost unbearable for both of them. Marcus was the first one to break the silence.

"Why were you going to kill yourself?" He asked.

"Why were you at the Astronomy tower instead of in class?" She changed the subject.

"If you really want to know, I was skipping class." He answered before turning the hotspot back to her. "And don't change the subject."

She sighed as she didn't really want to talk about her past, but she did anyways. "I'm guessing you didn't hear about how I ended up here?" When he didn't saying anything, she continued. "Well I attended Keaton Academy in North America. Over Christmas Break, there was a fire. Everything I knew burned to the ground in front of me. I managed to escape the inferno after falling out of a tree near my bedroom's window with a few injuries. My parents were not so lucky as they didn't make it out of the house. And the only living relative that I have is my aunt… that's why I'm here…"

Marcus didn't know what to say, so he settled on. "I'm sorry…"

Kali just nodded. "On top of that, my aunt thought it was a good idea to pull me out of class to treat me like a toddler. I didn't mean to snap at her, but I'm barely able to hold it together anyways. Everything I have ever known was back in America and my life was basically destroyed. I'm trying to rebuild my life, fit in, make friends, be a normal teenage witch. But my aunt has to tell me what I can do, who I can talk to, etc."

"Don't blame yourself… It wasn't your fault…" Flint told her. He reached out to move a strand of hair that had become untucked from behind her ear. Their eyes met, but neither one looked away this time. There was no sound for a moment as he leaned forward, making the first move. Kali wasn't sure what to do as she had never kissed a boy before. She also never had a boyfriend before either. Her parents didn't allow her to date. Flint has confessed that he was in love with her. She confessed her worst nightmare come true to him without thinking twice about it. The kiss lasted for a few before a new, but familiar voice broke the moment between the two.

"So, Marcus Flint skipped class and practice to make out with the new girl!" Adrian's voice rang out causing them to jump apart quickly. Sadly, it wasn't just Adrian. The entire Slytherin Quidditch team was standing in the common room and seen the kiss. Kali was so embarrassed that she ran straight to her dorm before anything else could be said. Her only hope was that none of them would be stupid enough to mention what they say to her aunt as she wasn't supposed to even interact with Marcus Flint, let alone kiss him.


End file.
